Veterinarian, Hero, Military Volunteer, Dnipro

1. Name

2. Where were you born, and where do you live now?

3. Where did you go to school, and what is your current profession?

4. What was your typical day like before the full-scale invasion, and how has your life changed since the invasion of Ukraine? What is your typical day like now (if that’s even possible)? Where were you, and how did you find out about or sense the start of the russian invasion? What difficulties have you faced since the invasion?

5. What specific actions (big or small) have you taken and continue to take to help Ukraine and the Ukrainian people—such as helping injured animals, rescuing animals from the floodwaters in Kherson, providing first aid to our soldiers after they were wounded, etc.)?

6. Can you tell us about your work with russian prisoners of war? How did that come about? (Also, what is the name of this exchange program and how does it work, for our international readers?) What were you thinking before you saw your first (living) russian soldier? Did you make a distinction in your mind between a patient and a person who had come to Ukrainian soil to kill you? What was going through your mind as you saved the life of a wounded russian soldier?

7. In your opinion, what are your strengths and superpowers?

8. Could you tell others abroad what it’s like to be a mother, raise a son, run your own business, save lives, and volunteer, as well as help save the lives of your enemies? How do you balance all of this? Is it even possible to remain morally stable in the midst of war? What exactly helps you keep your composure?

9. How did you meet your partner? What is your love story? How do you work together? Do you work with his unit?

10. Do you feel that the war has changed you? In what ways? Have you been surprised by yourself (by how you held up, stayed strong, found inspiration in unexpected places, etc.), by your country, by your ideas about humanity, or by your view of the world? What has been a revelation for you?

11. What do you want the world to know about Ukrainians right now? About Ukrainian women?

12. Which “WOW women” inspire you?

13. What place or activity makes you happiest?

14. What will you do first when Ukraine wins? What do you dream of for yourself and your family after the war ends? Will you take a break? Go traveling?

15. In your opinion, how do russians as a people differ from Ukrainians? Were we aware of these differences before the full-scale conflict? Were we in a state of denial? What have you learned from interacting with russian soldiers and seeing them with your own eyes?

What does your work reveal about the differences between Ukraine and the country that invaded its territory?

16. Do you believe that people who left Ukraine during the mass exodus in 2022, or those Ukrainians who have been living abroad for many years, bear some responsibility toward their homeland?

17. When people read this interview many years from now, what exactly do you hope they will understand about medicine in wartime? About the situation of Ukrainians on the front lines and behind the lines, as well as about your contribution.

18. Where can others find information about you and your work? (Links to your website, social media pages, etc.)

1. Slivka Darina Alexandrovna

2. Ukraine, city of Dnipro. Born and living in my hometown.

3. Dnipropetrovsk Agrarian and Economic University, faculty of veterinary medicine. Graduated with two diplomas, a bachelor's and a master's with honors, and a recommendation for postgraduate study. I work as a doctor of veterinary medicine (surgeon) and a general practice vet.

4. My ordinary day was the same as for many people: work, family, time for myself. Work always took up a lot of time, but I always tried to make time for my little son. My son was born during my first year of university. I had to take academic leave, because I was breastfeeding. After a year of leave I returned to my studies, and soon started working in my field. It was hard to juggle studies, work, and my son. But I raised him alone, my husband left me while I was pregnant. I wanted my son to want for nothing. He had everything he dreamed of, from small needs to big things. Matvey (my son) started swimming professionally. Our days were full: training three times a week, training camps, championships. I never missed a single one of his competitions, despite my packed work schedule. I always traveled with my son and my mom. Basically, I was both mom and dad to him. To this day, and my son is 15 now, his father has never shown up, even though we live in the same city and he knows where we live. But never mind. We don't need him anymore! I've already raised a worthy man and my support!

When the war came, my son and I were on vacation in Egypt, a gift for his 10th birthday. And we were very lucky: we came back on the last flight. And very soon after, the war began. War. Just think about it, the 21st century. Our neighbors came, invaded our country, to kill… I still can't wrap my head around it.

On February 24 we woke up to explosions. My mom works in the railway administration; I was getting ready for work that day too, and my son for school. Then we heard the booms very close to us. My knees started shaking. I couldn't figure out what to do. Mom, my son, grandma, my animals. What first… The first thing I had to do was save the animals being treated as in-patients at the clinic. We got in the car and raced to the clinic. Chaos in the streets, lines at gas stations and ATMs. Honestly, from the outside it looked like the end of the world… Lines in the stores and empty shelves… I was only afraid for my loved ones. Not for myself.

On February 26 I went back to work, because animals don't care when they get sick. War or no war. And then the moral nightmare began… Calls asking me to put down healthy young animals because people couldn't take them along. Naturally, I refused them all… So many abandoned animals… Many displaced people from Kharkiv and Mariupol (cities devastated by the fighting) came to my appointments. Their stories brought me to tears. Some had lived in the metro without water or food. They washed with snow, drank melted snow. Some drove out under direct shelling. You couldn't look at their cars without crying. I remember a little cat, they came to an appointment from Kharkiv. They said she hadn't eaten for 10 days, there was nothing to eat, please check if she's okay. Every evening, coming home, I cried. Because of the people, because of what they had to live through. For what??????

The most awful thing: when another round of shelling hit my city, I put my son to sleep in the bathtub (the safest place in an apartment during shelling). I came in a while later to check on him, and he had brought the boxes with his sneakers into the bathtub, because we had just bought them. In the morning he said: Mom, well, it would've been a shame if we got hit and my new sneakers burned 😭

There were many hardships: fuel, food, and our mental state.

5. From the start, I began helping everyone, people and animals. My first volunteering began at the Mechnikov hospital (a major hospital in Dnipro that treats badly wounded soldiers) and hospital number 7. There were many wounded soldiers, and the orderlies couldn't keep up with anything. I came to the hospitals every other day and helped our soldiers. I treated their wounds, brought treats (I ran a small fundraiser to my bank card every day) and bought them what they needed. Absorbent pads, food, treats. They always looked forward to it so much. For the wounded, especially the amputees, conversation matters so much. I gave them that. I even learned to change a stoma (a surgical opening in the abdomen with a bag attached) for some of them. We washed them, cut their nails; I asked friends to come and cut their hair for free.

A few cases stayed with me. A young guy, a commander, very handsome, with both legs amputated. I come in and say, how are you? He takes my hand and says, you know what? My girlfriend didn't leave me. I say, well, why would she? And he says, I've got no legs. I say, have you seen how handsome you are? As if she'd leave 😁 And look how luckily your legs were taken off. He goes, what do you mean? I say, the prosthetics will be comfortable to wear. He starts laughing and says, oh, true. I say, see, everything's fine, the main thing is you're alive 😭

And the second case: there was a young guy with stomas brought out. A bullet had gone through his whole abdomen and damaged all his organs. He wasn't allowed to eat anything, and I always came with treats. He goes, Darina, please give me an apple and a candy. I say, nooooo, you're only allowed tea. He got offended. I come two days later and he's gone. I go to the doctors to find out where he is and what happened, and the doctors say: he's simply one of a kind. He ordered sushi delivery, ate it, and ended up in intensive care 😁 Anyway, they saved him a second time and all is well. He's been discharged. There were many very positive moments, many. Our guys, their spirit and their balls of steel, that's something!!!!!!

I visited them for a very long time. Then there was a small break because of work, I stopped having enough of myself for everyone. And the worst part was that my son was deprived of my attention. But he understood everything…

In September 2022 my friend was killed, a legend of the 25th Brigade (the 25th Airborne Brigade, one of Ukraine's most famous units) with the call sign Bars (meaning "Snow Leopard"). He was an incredible man, friend, commander, father and husband. And once I had said to him: find me a husband. And so, at his funeral, I met my destiny, my other half. This man became my whole world, my hope, my support, and the best man in the world. Bars granted my wish from heaven 😭

Having a stable, strong relationship with my beloved, I realized I could no longer handle going to the hospital, because I now applied every story to myself and my beloved. My beloved, he is a hero! He liberated many cities, including Izium (a city in the Kharkiv region liberated by Ukrainian forces in September 2022). All of that has gone into Ukraine's history. And then one more time I went to the hospital and met a patient. It turned out our guy had been in captivity, and he started telling me the whole, whole story: how much he had to endure, how they took them out for mock executions, tortured them. How they beat them and said, we know we're occupiers, and so on. I walked out of the hospital and started sobbing like never before. I was so afraid, and still am, for the life of my beloved. What if, God forbid, he ends up like that. I was hysterical for about 3 hours. It became too hard for me mentally to listen to soldiers' stories, knowing my love is also in danger 24/7. That's how I stopped going to the hospitals…

Then I started running fundraisers for my beloved's brigade, that same famous 25th Brigade! I have covered and keep covering their needs. From vehicles to EW equipment (electronic warfare devices that jam enemy drones), from treats to tires, everything, everything they need. I run the fundraisers myself, and always report back to people. Everyone who knows me knows that all the money goes to the guys. And I prove it all the time.

Time passed. I didn't sit still for a single day, but if I described everything, you wouldn't have time to read it. And then the most horrific event happened: the explosion at the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric station (the dam was destroyed in June 2023, flooding towns and villages along the Dnipro river). I understood, and made the decision, to go to Kherson to rescue animals. Back then I didn't yet grasp the real horror. I found a van, found guys who could go, and at 5 a.m. we raced off to rescue… We went there twice, brought out a huge number of dogs and cats. I rode in a boat, climbed along pipes to save animals from houses that were completely flooded… In short, there was plenty of work. Our square was shelled, there were mines in the water. But we all stayed alive and well! Finding myself in those conditions, putting on a flak vest and a helmet, I understood: this is mine. And if my beloved weren't against it, I would have gone to serve long ago!

After that I got drawn into the organization Save Animals Ukraine, and I started going on animal evacuations from front-line territories. Risking our lives, we rescued those who were abandoned and left in distress! Those who love and are devoted to their owner to the end of their days, they were and are being abandoned to their fate! It's all so horrible. We've driven across the whole Donetsk region. We've saved, and keep saving, innocent souls!

I've pestered my beloved endlessly that I want to serve. I want the uniform, I want everything, to be a soldier. And then he offered me an option: to treat prisoners of war so they survive until the exchange for our people. Of course I agreed. And I started going to treat them, operating, putting on casts. All successfully. In between, we're at the shooting range, and I let off steam shooting every kind of combat weapon. It's my hobby, I love shooting. If shooting at our ranges weren't so expensive, I would spend all my weekends there! And I really want my own PM (Makarov pistol, a classic Soviet-era sidearm). For our own guys, I've only removed shrapnel… And that in between the prisoners…

I work as a veterinarian. With a partner, we opened our own clinic. I do general practice, I'm a surgeon. I'm very interested in veterinary dentistry, but for now there's no money to start studying and buy the equipment. I've been practicing for about 14 years. I study all the time, because veterinary medicine, like human medicine, never stands still, it always moves forward! And a lot of what was current, say, 3-4-5 years ago is no longer current. Since childhood I dreamed of being a veterinarian, and that's how it turned out. I adore my work.